Shoe and method of making the same



March 4, 1947." 5 DE A SHOE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed 001;. 26, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Y fl. E T x 0 W U M March 4, 1947. G. DE LucA 2,416,868

SHOE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Fi'led Oct.- 26, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. GAzSTfiO 0E 1.00/1

BY? It ATTORNEY March 4, 1947. 5. DE LUCA 2,415,863

SHOE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME FilecLOct. 26, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 jig- 9. 10

YIIIJWIIIIII INVENTOR. GAETANO DELUC/Y ATTORNE Y March 4, 1947. DE LUCA SHOE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Oct. 26, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet '4 vim 30 sm g IN V EN TOR.

Maw L R wwm 0. A. N L Y w Patented Mar. 4, 1947 SHOEAN'D METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME I Gaetano De Luca, Brooklyn, N. Y.

. Application October 26, 1945, Serial No. 624,689

6 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of shoes and more particularly shoes of the pasted type, i. e., shoes wherein the upper is attached to the insole and outsole by cement or other adhesive,

Heretofore in the making of shoes of this general character, the following procedure is conventionally employed: The shoemaker first secures the insole to an inverted last by'at least four or five tacks, so as to anchor the insole in position thereon. Thereafter the upper is pulled tight over the last and the edges of the upper drawn tight over the insole by means of pliers so as to stretch the upper tightly about the last and into conformity therewith. As it is thus stretched into place, it is tacked along its margin to the last through the insole. At least twenty to twenty-five tacks are commonly used for this purpose. The thus lasted shoe then goes to a Niggerhead or side last machine which further stretches the upper over the insole while cement is being applied between the margins of the upper and the insole and immediately thereafter the entire margin of the upper is tacked to the insole by tacks which are one-quarter inch or less distance apart, so that in a shoe of this character it is common to thus tack the margin of the insole to the last by upwardly of one hundred tacks. The purpose of these tacks is to hold the upper firmly in place while it is being glued to the insole. After the glue has set, the tacks are then removed and become waste. After the tacks have been removed, the free edges of the upper are manually pounded to flatten them as much as possible and they are thereafter hand trimmed to eliminate thick edges. The upper is then put through a roughing machine to rough that portion of the upper which overlies the insole and make it receptive to the gluing or cementing operation. The metal shank is then put in and, over the shank and the ball of the foot, is generally applied a filler of cork, sawdust or the like. Thereafter paste is applied to the outer sole and the outer sole is pasted to the inner sole and up per. When the paste has set, the shoe is removed from the last in completed condition.

The object of the present invention is to make a shoe of the same general character while eliminating a great number of these steps and yet provide a soft, flexible, comfortable shoe, comparable to a hand turned'shoe at a fraction of the cost and in much shorter production time.

Under prior practice the only operation carried out in the'fitting room is the preparation of the upper so that it maybe sent to the shoemaker to last it over the insole. According to the present invention the upper is attached to the insole in the fitting room and these parts already as-, sembled go to the shoemaker in a condition to be collectively applied to a last.

In practising the present invention I preferably. proceed as follows: As a result of careful research, experimentation and tests, I have worked out patterns appropriate to uppers and insoles of various shoe sizes and designs. From thesev patterns I am able to lay out and die-cut insoles and corresponding uppers in various styles in a clicker machine. These patterns are made so accurately that I am able to bring corresponding edges of an upper and insole into registration in marginal face abutting relation and to sew them together, preferably with a zigzag or overlock stitch in any ordinary machine, so that, when thus sewed together, they may thereupon be drawn over a last of corresponding size and will be found to fit properly. .All that remains for-the shoemaker to thereafter do is to apply the usual shank and filler and thereafter cement the outer sole and heel in the usual, conventional manner, whereupon the shoe may. be removed from the last in completed condition.

Consequently, this invention effects very considerable economies both in labor and materials, among which may be mentioned: The conventional operations of separately tacking the insole on the last, followed by the assembly of the upper and insole while on the last, are entirely elimi; nated; the use of the tacking machine is wholly unnecessary; no pasting of the upper to the insole is required, and. the use of both the Niggerhead or side last and the tack withdrawing machines are completely dispensed with. There is also as much as three-quarters inch to one inch waste saved along the free edges of the upper, for this extra stock heretofore required for stretching of the upper over the insole during lasting, is not required in the carrying out of the present method. Shoe factories use from one-half ton to over a ton of tacks each day, under present practice, to tack the upper to the insole when cementing the former to the latter. After a single use these tacks are discarded and become waste. This Waste is eliminated for the present invention does not'require this tacking operation.

Notwithstanding these savings, the present invention accomplishes the objects hereinbefore enumerated, and others, and provides a better shoe of the pasted type, well adapted for low cost quantity production.

Features of the invention, other than those quarter and shank,

3 V adverted to, will be apparent from the hereinafter detailed description and claims, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings illustrate diiferent practical embodiments of the invention, but the constructions therein shown are to Figure 5 is a plan view showing the upper and: the quarter partially attached to the insole before lasting and with the shank illustrated in dot and dash lines to show theposition which it, i

will subsequently occupy. v

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5, butshows the insole made in two pieces to be fitted together as: shown to form the, complete insole and with thezquarter stapled to the insole instead of sewn thereto; as inaFigure 5.

Figure '7 shows. the upper quarter and insole united by stitching and positioned on a last, the

1 parts being viewed with the last'in its inverted Working:- position, is, bottom up.

Figure, 8: is a top plan view of the finished shoe removed from the last and with the outer sole applied. Figure;9 is asectionon-theline 9' 9 of'Figure '7. Figures 10,.11 and 12 show insoles of difierent contour. appropriate to. shoes of different design andimade in accordancewith the presentxinvention; 7

. Figure 131's the bottom view; of a. fullyclosed shoias it goes from the fitting. room to the shoemaker to apply the same to the last.

Inpracti'sing the-present inventiomthe insole,

upper, shank andv quarter are first blanked out of! leather or other m'ateriaLas shown inFigures 1 4 the parts of which are appropriate for the formation of. ashoe with an open quarter, open toe: and sideopenings in the forwardportion and at the shank, l he upper andthe quarterv in such a shoe may be. made from single pieces of: leather or. separate pieces sewed. together; as; shown. in Figures: 2 and 3 to minimize waste in cutting. In ,any" event, the. diesby which thesev parts. are blankedout are made according topatterns which areaccu'ra-te as to size, andshape, so that,.when

. thesegparts are assembledaspresently described, I they, will properly fit one another and willfit a last appropriateto thiszshoesize and style.

vIt-will be noted that the insole l. of. Figure 1 is providedlal'ong its edges .with cut-outs, Z, 3, 4', 5;;6 and Lwhile intermediatethese cut-outs the insole isextended to the outlying edges 8,,which correspond, in reality,- to the, outer overalllcontourof; a conventional insole. The particular placement of thecut-outs 2-l', inclusive, is'goy ernedl by the design of the upper and quarter, for; at; these out-outs the upper iszsewed tothe insole by lines of stitching which underlie. the foot of thewearer when the shoe is worn. The extensions between these cut outs permit the 'insol'e, to'project; or extend substantially to-the outeredgeof the outer sole at'the openings in the upper and thus give a finished appearance in the finished shoe:

The upper 9, shown in Figure 2, has cut-outs 2a; 3a, 4a and' 5a which correspond to the cutcuts 2,- 3;. 4 and 5, respectively, of the'insole and these cut-outs in the upper are'made' with ter min'al projections So. for the purpose cat-fitting sary for the edges to and la are made to conform with the cut-outs 6 and I of the insole and can therefore be readily registered therewith.

' In fabricating a shoe-from the parts shown in Figures 1-4, the insole l is laid flat with the foot-facing surface up, and the upper 9 is. laid fiat on the top surface of the insole with the out-out2a of theiupper registering with the cutout 2 of the insole, as shown in Figure 5. At "thisstage the-margin of the upper adjacent the cut-out 2 a is-in face contacting relation with the insole and theedg'e Z'a coincides with the edge 2 of the latter. While held in this position, the upper and insole are stitched together by stitches ill which may conveniently be accomplished: by a conventional zigzag or any other appropriate stitching machine. 7

After the cut-outs 2. and 211 have beenunitecl along their edges, as indicated by the stitches iii, the upper, which is offlexible material, can then be readily manipulated to bring: successive. portions of the cut-out ta into corresponding relation to the cut-out 4- of the insole, as indicated by the arrow H in Figure 5. In practice, one end of the cut-out sais positioned; at the end of cut-out 4 nearest the cut-out 2",, and,

while thus held in cooperative relation to" a.

ried out to attach the; right hand edge of the upper to the-right handledge of the'insole. This is accomplished by progressively bringing the cut-outs 3a and. 5a into the sam marginal face contacting and edge coinciding relation, as hereinbeiore described, and as indicatedby the arrows l2 and i3; andthen stitching the upper to-the insole by lines of zigzag, or overlook stitching. When these operationsare completed the entire upper has been; attached to the: insole and the upper generally shaped;

The quarter I4 is; next broughtintoztheiposrtion indicated in Figured wherein. its edge 6a ;will register with the cut-out-B and whenthish'as been accomplishem the parts are unitedby: stitching l5, as shown in Figure-,5. Thishaving beeniaczcomplished', theend la ofl'the'qua'rter is. brought into corresponding relation with the cut-outil of th insole, as indicated by. the .a-rrow 'l-fii and stitched together inthe same manner. Instead of making the insole l in o'ne piejce, it mayr'someitimes expedite op'eratidnstbdivide the insole: at

theshank into tw'opi'eces; as indic'ated at l'a and lb. in Figure 6 and. thereafter. interfit' these parts after the upper hasbeen attached'to the forepart Ia and: the quarter attachedtothe' r'eai partlb Figure 6 shows such: an arrangement and ther shows that, 'insteadof using lihe'sof stitching IE'to attach the quar-ter'to e ihsol'e als inFigllre 5,.the quarter ma'y 'b attaeheditotlie in an stapi'es m: In this case, the staples" IE may be passed through the shank piece I! after the ends of 'the quarter have been positioned in-the cutouts 6 and 1 in face contacting relation to the under side of the shank.

In any event the upper and quarter are attached to the insole, and the shank H secured to the insole in accurate position in the fitting room beforethe shoe is lasted.- vAccurate positioning of the shank with respect tothe insole may be accomplished by providing the insole with an indicaiting mark or perforation 20 and by forming the forward edge of the shank with a notch 2| which, when registered with the indicating mark 20, will insure its accuracy.

After the parts have been assembled and sewed and/or stapled together in the manner specified, they are passed to the shoemaker who then and for the first time applies them in such assembled relation and as a unit to a last 22 of appropriate size and style. Figur 7 shows the assembled parts upon the last as viewed from the bottom of the last. In this figure, the insole I is shown as provided with a marginal binding 23. The binding 23 extends about those portions of the margin of the insole which show through the openings of the upper. Such a binding is provided upon the insole before the parts are assembled, but has been omitted in the previous figures in the interest of clearness. This binding may be of any material such as leather or fabric of appropriate color and grain according to the style and type of shoe.

When the unit is thus positioned on a corresponding last, it will be found that, if the blanking dies were properly made and the attachment of the upper and quarter to the insole were properly executed, the shoe will accurately fit the last without undue stretching or looseness. It may be here noted that no high degree of skill is required for the sewing of the upper and quarter to the insole for all the workman has to do is to feed the edges, while held in proper relation, through a sewingmachine. There is practically nothing left to skilled judgment in this operation.

7 When theshoe is on the last, the lines of stitching l and IE will underlie the last, while the projections between the cut-outs of the insole will extend through the opening 24 in the fore part of the upper to give a finished edge at these cutouts, and also along the shank portion of the shoe and around the heel portion thereof, as will be clearly apparent from Figure 7. As the upper is lasted over the last, the stitching ID, if of overlook or zigzag character, will permit the edges of the upper to come into edge abutting relation with the edges of the insole, as clearly shown in Figure 9, so as to provide a fiat joint between them, without ridges or appreciable extra thickness at these locations.

The shoe upper and quarter unit having been applied to the last, as shown in Figure 7, the shoemaker may thereupon and without further operations apply the usual steel shank, and an appropriate cork or sawdust filling and thereupon cement the outer sole and heel to the shoe in the conventional manner, to complete the shoe. The shoe may then be removed from the last and, when inverted into this wearing position, will appear as shown in Figure 8, wherein the outer sole is indicated by the reference character 25.

The foregoing description sets forth the manner of making a sandalized type of shoe with open toe and open quarter. The invention is not limited to the manufacture of this particular type of shoe as other types of shoe can be manufactured 6 with equal dexterity in accordance with thisinvention by the use of appropriate blanking dies, for the upper and insole. ThusFigure 10shows how an insole should be shaped to provide an open toe, open back pump, while Figure 11 shows how the insole should be shaped to provide an open front and closed back shoe. In Figure 10, the cut-outs extend from the open toe portion to the open heel portion, while in Figure 11, the cutout extends from the Open toe portion entirely around the shoe and back to this portion with a notch 26 at the center of the back to locate the upright seam in the upper at the center of the heel of the shoe. Figure 12 shows how an insole should be blanked out for a completelyv closed shoe, i. e., one which has neither an open front or an open back, nor side openings. Such an insole requires no extensions to give finished appearance at openings, for there are none, but notches 26 at the front and rear of the insole and in the medial line thereof, facilitate the proper positioning of the upper with respect to the insole when sewing them together. The bottom of a closed shoe is shown in Figure 13 with the upper united to the insole around the entire margin thereof and with a center seam 2! at the back of the upper. The assembly shown in Figure 13 is ready to receive a shank l7 and may thereupon be placed upon a last, a metal shank and filler material applied, and the outer sole pasted on in the usual manner.

Thus it will appear that. thepresent invention provides an unusually simple, economical and efficient manner of making shoes. The foregoing detailed description sets forth the preferred procedure in connection with particular styles or types of shoe, but the invention is to be understood as fully commensurate with the appended claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by'Letters Patent is: i

l. The herein described method of making shoes which comprises: providing an insole appropriate to a particular style and size of shoe, providing an upper appropriate to the same style and size of shoe, thereafter sewing to the margins of the insole, While off the last, marginal portions of the upper with the inner surface of the marginal portions of the upper in fac'econtacting relation to the inner surface of the insole and with the corresponding outer edges of the upper and insole in substantial registration, by over-edge stitching which passes through both the upper and insole and embraces said outer edges, thereafter applying the assembled upper and insole to a last and shifting the upper on said stitches to bring the thus sewed edges of the upper and insole into substantially edge abutting relation to form a flat joint between them, and applying an outer-sole while on the last.

2. The herein described method of making shoes which comprises: providing an insole appropriate to a particular style and size of shoe, providing an upper appropriate to the same style and size of shoe, thereafter sewing to the mar gins of the insole, while off the last, the entire margin of the upper with the inner surface of the marginal portions of the upper in face contacting relation to the inner surface of the insole and with the corresponding outer edges of the upper and insole in substantial registration, by over-edge stitching which passes through both the upper and insole and embraces said outer edges, thereafter applying the assembled upper and insole to a last and shifting the upper on games-e inner surface of such insole? and. with the corresponding outer edges'oi' the upper and insole in substantial' registration, by over-edge stitching which passes through both: theupper and insole and embraces their outer edges; all of which operations are carried; out beiorethe shoe is placed on a last, thereafter placing the thus-assembled insole and fore part upon ailast and shifting said iorepart on said stitches to bring thethussewed edges of the upper andinsole intosubstantially edge-abuttingrelationto-form a fiat joint between them, and applyinganout-sole whileon the last.

4". The herein described method ofmaking shoes, which comprises--: providing an insole with cut-out" portions where an'upper is to 'beattached thereto and with those marginal-portions of the insole'betweenthe cut-outs projecting beyond the base of 'thecut-outstosubstantially the contour oftheout-sole to be subsequently applied thereto;

providing an upper with marginal edges positioned to register with the cut-outs in the insole, bringing said marginal edges of the upper into registration withthe bases of the cut-outs of" the insole with said marginal portions of the upper in face-contacting relation with the insole and sewing them together in this relation, before they are placed on a last, by over-edge stitching which passes through both the upper and insole and embraces the registeringedges of both of them, thereafter placing the insole andlupper as a unit upon a last and'shifting theupper on'said stitches to:bring the thus sewed edges of the upper and insole into substantially edge abutting relation to form a flat joint betweenthem, and applying an out sole whileion the'last.

5;v A shoe comprising: an insole provided with spaced apart marginal cut-outs with interspaced marginalprojecting portions, bindings along said marginal projecting portions, an upper. having marginalportions extending into said cut-outs of the insole and sewed to; the insole along the. bases only of saidfcutiouts'; said upper having proj ectsing tabs; extendingtorunderliethe ground-facing.

. side ofitheiinsolebetweenvsaide cut-outsrand GOV-r ering and concealing the opposite enct portions oirsaidibindings, and said; upper having openings between said tabsiand; juxtaposed withsaid marginal projectingportionsoi the: insole,v and. an outsole adhesively' secured: toz'the. ground-facing sidel'o'f the; assembled'upper'and insole. v

6; The herein described. method. of making shoes; which comprises; providing an insole with spaced apart.- marginal: cut -outs, and jinterspaced marginal projecting portions having. bindings; providing an upper withmarginal.edge; portions adaptedto register with said cut-outs and proj'ecting tabs =atithe opposite ends of: said marginal edgeiportionsg bringing said marginal edge por tions'oitheupper into registrationlwiththe bases of: the cut-outs of the insole with adjacent portions ofthe'upper and insole in'face contacting relation and sewing. them. together in; this relation,xwhile oii" the last, by over-edge stitching which passes through'both the upper and insole and embraces the registering edges of both of them; thereafter placing the insole and upper upon a last and shifting theupper onsaid stitches to bring the thus sewed edges oi the upper and insole into substantially. edge-abutting relation to form fiat joints between. them; positioning the projecting tabs of' theupper to overlie and concealthe opposite. endsportions-of the bindings; and applying an outsole;

GAETANQDE LUCA.

, REFERENCES CITED The following references areo'f record in the file of this patent: V

} UNITED STATES; PA'I QENTS Number Name Date 2,167,858. Vfexlr Aug. 1, 1939 2329;282- McDermott Sept. 14 1943 1,976,135 Murray Oct. 9, 1934 23862786 Famolare Oct. 16, 1945 205280 Miller: et-al Mar, 2; 1937 zgisv-ssz Gorman- Ma a;- 1939 2 092 533 Hyde Sept; '7, 193'? 2,081,887 B'ain r Ma 25; 19-37 1,784;806' Fried' 1390.9;1930 2354 903 Wolff J Aug; 1 194 47 FOREIGNPATENTSL Number Country Date! Australian Nov. 13', 1939 

